Peaceful Horizon
Waking Up “I can’t believe this,” Tabart spat, throwing his hands up in frustration, and the newspaper with it. It had only been three days since Tabart was saved by Admiral Ralph from the clutches of the Xros Pirates, at the expense of Foxpack’s own life, and between escaping there and arriving upon Coachella, the media had detailed their events and updated their bounties. Though, yet again, Tabart found his bounty exponentially increased, and somehow, he had been made to be the forerunner, if not the supposed leader of the Four Horseman, a term that referred exclusively to himself, Draco D. Damon, Fukuoka Soren, and Apu—all who he thought were much more talented than him in terms of combat, and pretty much everything else. “I-I didn’t even do that much!” he cried frustratingly. “It was all Damon and everyone else! All I did was stand there, holy shit won’t these people give me a break.” However, among all, there was a distinct detail that the newspaper mentioned; his ties to the Dressrosan Royal Family. The detail itself spelled trouble. Now, every Bounty hunter would be even more on their asses to capture someone who had ties to the royalty of one of the twenty original kingdoms. But, for Tabart, what he really feared was the Royal family’s influence, and with this, it had been told that they not only were keeping tabs on him but may even actively know where he was. After all, since they had declared for his bounty to be changed from dead to simply Alive, it implied that they were quite active in their pursuit of him, and since the idea was incredibly smart, he could only conclude it was an idea proposed by Judas, the guy who found him the first time and the guy who continued to be a thorn in his ass. Tabart leaned back onto the couch, putting his hand over his face exhaustingly. “I had thought this was all a joke when you told me all this you know?” "I really did think it was a misprint, or maybe they got you mixed up with someone else." Frida insisted, cradling an infant in her arms as she walked over to where Tabart sat. It had been what seemed like a great time since Frida and Tabart had last seen eachother; over nine months, by the very least, as proven by the presence of their child. The baby looked strikingly like Frida, with hazel eyes and stark white hair. However, it did seem to have Tabart's personality just from the capabilities that it has displayed thus far. As she hugged the baby to her body, Frida silently worried about the safety of the infant after the update on Tabart's bounty before reading the paper once more of Tabart's shoulder. I wish that was the case,” Tabart replied, turning his head towards Frida. “The bounty isn’t really the issue though; it’s that they told the world that I’m connected to the Dressrosan parliament, which means people will eventually find out, if they don’t know already, that I’m Niu’s son. Which means more people will try and take…well, us home,” Tabart continued, nodding towards James. “Now since I have a son, it means Niu suddenly cares a lot more about our lives, his, mine, and yours. Our lives really wouldn’t be ours anymore, especially since she probably had plans to marry me off to some princess of some foreign land or something.” Tabart smiled suddenly. “But, no worries. I won’t let us get captured ever. We’re going to live our lives the way we want them, and we’re going to be around to watch James grow up.” Frida hadn't even thought of what Niu would do. She hated the woman with a passion, with her trying to marry off Tabart being the least of her crimes against humanity. "I suppose I hadn't even considered Niu..." She admitted before looking down at James, who had quickly drifted asleep in her arms. A sudden smile slipped onto her face and she shrugged slightly before speaking, "Royalty sorta reminds me of something I might've neglected to tell you about little James here... his name isn't just James... it's James Edward William Cavalon the Third..." Frida managed to get out before bursting into a giggle from Tabart's expression. Tabart looked at Frida confusedly. "F-Frida! I don't know how I'm going to remember all that! Edward James, Cavalon the Third William Longinus? Shit, I messed up again didn't I? Oh boy, I got no idea how I'm going do that." "Don't worry about it, you can just call him James!" Frida giggled more but quickly stifled it, fearing that she would wake James. She waited carefully to see if the child stirred, but he did not. Apparently, however, she did wake someone, as the floor in the nearby hallway creaked under their weight. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!" A scream had been heard from the room where Soren and one of the others stood. Indeed, the creaking continued as the steps got heavier and louder, almost as if whoever woke up were hurrying. A blue blurr appeared from one of the doors, covered with black pants and many bandages through his body, and stood just in front of a mirror. Mirror which reflected his blue skin and large figure. Seeing his appearance in the mirror, he only screamed, "NAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Eyes widening. This was the aforementioned Draco D. Damon, whose appearance had been changed ever since his meeting with Reach, one of the Xros Pirates' Four Gospels, back at Bedina. Damon turned around as he finished, noticing the other people in the room, specially James, whom he looked softly at, "Cute," He smiled, but that soon got wiped from his face, as his eyes wandered higher and noticed Frida. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" His lips curved down, almost as if Damon knew her from somewhere. James erupted in tears from the confused yelling, and surely the wretched appearance of a large blue man did not help. Upon hearing James' first cry, it was a matter of seconds before James was pushed into Tabart's arms as Frida launched across the room foot first, roundhouse kicking Damon with the full force of her body. "WADDYA THINK YOU'RE DOIN YA FOOL? I LET YOU INTO MY HOUSE A-" Frida continued to ramble on, angrily shaking her arms in the air as James continued to cry from the commotion. “No, Frida!” Tabart jumped, holding James close to his own body, his paternal instincts immediately kicking in. “He didn’t mean it, ya see…no sshh!” Tabart jumbled between his two responsibilities of soothing the cries of his son and protecting Damon from Frida’s wrath. He quickly, but smoothly cradles James in his arms, gently moving him side to side comfortably. “Frida, Damon’s not normally a blue freak! Cut him some slack! Speaking of, where is James’ bottle?” Despite the fury of a parent dawning upon him, Damon almost didn't budge, only waving his blue arms around, "Wait, wait, WAIT!!" He wasn't really sure just at whom he directed that: Tabart, Frida, or even himself. How many days had it been? How were the others? What had happened at those last moments? "This..." Damon breathed, getting reused to his sharp teeth and claws. "Sorry, sorry," He tried, still snarling a bit at the prospect of his figure showing, "This... like..." Damon clicked his teeth, "This is how I truly am, okay?" He managed to surpress the loudness in his voice, knowing of the kid in there. To tell the truth, he couldn't even feel any auras around him, not even as his senses focused solely on the house. Frida huffed and swiped her hair out of her face before attempting to regain her composure as though nothing had happened. Just to make sure that she wasn't going insane, Frida grabbed the newspaper that lay on the couch and flipped to Damon's bounty poster. She pointed to the picture and showed it to Damon with an almost concerned look on her face, something rather uncommon for this arrogant woman. "What happened to you?" She whispered, even though she felt as though Damon himself did not know the answer to that question. "I can answer that!" A blue-haired man came into the room, wearing only a pair of simple white pants, revealing a scarred, muscular torso. His shirt had been completely torn apart in the previous battle and he had no time to buy new ones. This was Fukuoka Soren, the child of a Yonko... and a very irritated man. "Daemon's been like that since he was born. I think Indiana-sensei called him an Oni!" Soren called Damon a peculiar name: Daemon. There was significance behind this name, but he wouldn't say it immediately. "Point is, Daemon's fine, he was probably in a lot of pain...or he was very scared. Anyway! He'll calm down soon and go back to his human-looking form." Tabart nodded in agreement, approaching the group with a bottle in James’ mouth. “Yes, yes, that’s amazing. Thanks for that information. But, if you don’t mind me asking, how in the hell did the son of Daddy L. Legs wound up beaten up, bruised, and air lifted out of Bedina alongside some rookies? Your mother isn’t going to come find us, and murder us right? Cause that’d be bad, for literally everyone involved.” "Well... I ran away from home. Living in an Empire wasn't going to let me live my dreams...She shouldn't chase after us, though... I think..." Soren felt abashed, and then he glanced towards his bounty poster again, and that bashfulness turned to anger. "BUT GOD DAMN IT!" Soren shouted, ignorant of the baby, who began crying. "A-ah sorry..." Soren tried to pacify the baby. He hid his face in his hands, and then said "Peekaboo" with a high pitch, hoping to calm him down. After James calmed down, Soren grumbled. "I didn't think Vera-nee would become something like that... Did you, Daemon?" Soren asked the Oni, who was still in disbelief. Damon could only blink... if that guy was calling him by that name, it was definitely him, "Soen, thank you for being a expositional tutorial from inside a game." He uttered and stared blankly at Soren. This helped him ignore Tabart's cheesiness and hold his tears in, after all, it had been so long... Damon almost got lost into his thoughts, until James' crying put him out. Not remembering much about Legs, nor even that she was a Yonko, Damon clearly had nothing to complement. He thought of her as a nice person, from the much he recalled. "Vera..." Damon doozed off, eyes blinking as he stared at how delicious the house's food must have been- "WAIT!" He cried, eyes wide, "W-Where?! Where was Vera, she's alive?!" Damon really would remind himself to not shout too much, it would just draw people to his odd appearance. "Holy crap guys, my baby is right here. Can we stop fu--freaking yelling please?" Tabart inquired, his voice hushed beneath the sound of his James drinking his milk. "Anyway, whose this Vera chick?" Frida, who was leaning against a nearby wall during this entire ordeal, walked over to Tabart and slowly took James from his arms, as to not wake him. She walked back into the hallway that the men came from and entered her room, where she laid James down in a comfy bassinet. Before leaving she lightly twirled the mobile hanging above his crib, which spun small figurines of a red-bearded man and played a small tune. Damon's eyes, which now had light blue sclera and white pupils, glanced towards Tabart boringly. At least, he was beginning to ease around the man, despite having known him only since a few days. "Vera was a childhood friend of me and Soen," He pointed at Soren with his thumb and only as he did so, did Damon notice of the various bounty posters on the newspaper, since it was left there by the leaving Frida, "Wait-" At the sight of the first bounty, a woman of 987,000,000, Damon's eyes widened once again, "W-What?!" His teeth grinded against one another, with him taking the newspaper this time, "This is V-Vera-nee?! No way!" Eyes continuing to hover over the details on the paper, Damon noticed something, "KANE..." He had heard such a name somewhere before- "Isn't Kane the Commander whom Bananajeem was under?" Damon turned towards Tabart this time, surely, how could Vera possess such a high bounty? How was she even alive? It had been a long time. "Oh, that girl?" Tabart said, glancing at her bounty on the newspaper, "I saw her briefly actually as we got airlifted out the island. I remember her specifically." He looked around the room, leaning in closer to Damon with a smirk. "She had some tig ol bitties. I'm talking real tig!" Katashi was sore as he woke up from laying on the front porch. He had been savaged by Trickshot and Najeem during the early stages of the fight, and his body needed a long time to recover. The bullet wounds seemed to have mostly healed, leaving the only major injury left the half healed gash in his back. Katashi grunted as he lifted his body off the porch with his good arm, the one without the injured shoulder. He paused for a moment as he looked around, realizing this was not the place he had fallen in. The battle appeared to be over. He didn't know how long he had been out. A light blanket slid off from him as he got up. He quickly folded it and placed it next to the wall. Gingerly standing up, he opened the door softly, preferring to not make a ruckus until he knew what was going on. The ceilings were a bit short to him, but not something that required him to stoop over in order to get by. He slowly peaked his head around to where all the shouting had been coming from, before noticing the rookies who had joined up with them from before. "Hello?" Frida had just returned from her room, where James now lie, when the large man entered her home. "For the love of God, Tabart, I guess I didn't notice how many fuckin' people we brought back. This is like my cousin's bar mitzvah all over again..." Frida sighed heavily and attempted to wipe away the dirt and grime that the men had brought upon her couch. Frida then sat down, placing her arm up on the ledge of the couch and looking towards Katashi. "Anything you need, big guy?" She said leisurely. "Some water would be nice..." Katashi will say quietly to the small woman who spoke to him. "But more importantly, what happened and where am I?" He still had zero idea what was going on. On the opposite side of the island, Apu saw off Kettle as he made to depart. "I'll get a move on then, hm? With the war among us, our best course of action would be to locate Burling-sama as soon as possible," Kettle intrigued. He handed Apu a transponder snail. "Here, take this. I'll update you by snail once a day to notify you of my progress." Apu pocketed the Den Den Mushi. He simply nodded. "Until we meet again, my friend." With a nod of his own, Kettle took off into the skies, leaving Apu to ponder alone. Foxpack's death was still weighing heavy on the fishman's mind. He had distanced himself from the others for this very reason; he just felt the need to be by himself for awhile, until he could think and reason calmly. "You are all recovered to an appropriate extent, it appears." A mysterious, purple-haired woman appeared in the room, wearing a mask that covered the entirety of her face and robes that hid her figure. "Your bodies might feel sticky for a while, that is due to my Devil Fruit. But it shall fade away once your wounds recover naturally." Her voice was deep and penetrated the entire room, but the shocking thing was that her presence was barely noticeable even though she was right in front of the Rookie Pirates in this room. "Aunty Mirai!" Soren exclaimed. He referred to Fukuoka Mirai, the leader of the Night Parade, of course. "I...I know why you're here. And I also know why you didn't help us in that battle against the Xros Pirates. But...I don't plan on returning home." Soren said with a tinge of hesitation in his voice. He clenched his fist, trying to prevent himself from shaking. "That is not your choice to make...-!?" Mirai was about to complete her sentence, before a familiar sound approached. "Purupuru...purupuru..." The sound of a Den Den Mushi made Mirai on alert, as she took out the small Den Den Mushi in her cloak. Normally, baby Den Den Mushi could not make world-wide calls, but this particular Den Den Mushi was a breed only raised in the . The dwarf Den Den Mushi, a small Den Den Mushi that packs the range of even the largest of their species. "Kachha." The Den Den Mushi spoke, before another voice came on the line. "Mirai!" A deep, masculine voice spoke on the other line in anger. It was a voice all too familiar to Soren, who shivered when he heard it. "Where are you!? And where is Soren!? Is he-!?" The voice was interrupted by the sound of a huge impact. "D-dad?" Soren began to say, concerned about the man on the other end. That was Kosaka Isshin, right-hand man to Daddy L. Legs and Soren's father. But then Soren heard the other voice on the line, and he completely froze up. He knew exactly who that voice belonged to, and he knew that it wouldn't let him off this easily. “Soren, Soren baby is that you?” Legs inquired, her voice tender and soft. “Good, because WHEN I FIND YOUR ASS, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!! How DARE you leave Wano without MY permission!!? And then, not only that, but then I LOOOKED AT THIS FUCKING BOUNTY SOREN AND YOU JUMPED UP 300,000,000 BELLIES?! ARE YOU INSANE?! You’re going to do me a favor, and spare me the trouble of coming to find you, by marching your ass home RIGHT NOW SOREN. I don’t fucking mean tomorrow, or in the next 2 minutes, I mean RIGHT NOW. Have I made myself clear?” The Den Den Mushi broke into tears. “Y-You have no idea how worried I am about you, how worried WE are about you. Holy shit Soren, now I’m a fucking mess, and I bet that Den Den Mushi has SNOT all over it; This is your fault, remember that. SOREN BABY PLEASE!” The Den Den Mushi was changing emotions rapidly at this point, going from sadness, to confusion, to anger, to whatever the hell else Legs was feeling. “ISSHIN, SAY SOMETHING TO HIM DAMMIT!” "Whose that on the snail?" Katashi will whisper to the people around him, loud enough to be picked up by the Den Den Mushi. Katashi didn't know who Soren was, so him calling someone his parents or vice versa meant nothing to him. "Also where did the blue guy come from anywhere. The haired one, not the actual blue one." He will pause for a moment before continuing, "This woman really needs to calm down before she pops a vein or something." "Disregarding the fact that I might committ mass homicide if another stranger enters my home... I recognize that voice. It's that of none other than one of the Yonko, Daddy L. Legs. And while I'm all for family reunions, all of the attention that we are receiving from a literal spider demon is not exactly ideal. As for where he came from, I'm sure one of these dumbasses would love to tell you." Frida's tone was sharp, and it became extremely evident that she wasn't exactly thrilled with any of the current events. "Ooh.... She can keep being angry if she wants, I'm not touching that..." Was Katashi's response as he continued staring at everyone else. "I'm just going to stop talking now." Tabart gulped. "Y-Yeah man, this doesn't sound like it's a good thing dude," he said, his tone confused and awkward as the situation. "I mean, your mom is the biggest deal and she's like crying over this Den Den Mushi. It must mean she really misses you. You probably should head on home before she finds you, and kills us." Sweat trickled down Damon's frame, just when he thought he could focus back into his human-looking form. He didn't fully remember his time with Soren at all, thus, he couldn't recall how his interaction with Legs was. Yet, even then, Damon couldn't just let Soren go away now, they had things to talk out. Gulping his saliva, Damon uttered shakingly, "A-Aunt Legs, don't worry about Soen!" He had to try, he couldn't leave Soren to speak for himself. "This is m-me!-" Damon turned briefly towards Soren, as if to question about his nickname, "-D-Daemon." This wouldn't go well, she was a Yonko, and he has seen the level of the Xros' subordinates. Damon would certainly try to ignore whatever kind of glare the masked woman, Mirai, was giving him. Mirai looked upon the onlookers with considerable disdain, but on the inside she was very worried about Soren. In addition to being her apprentice, Soren was also her nephew. To see her nephew in such a perilous situation caused her much heartache, of course, she wasn't at liberty to express her emotions like her cousin, Legs, did. Soren, on the other hand, heard the opinions of all the people around him, and his knees were buckling. They were all right. Him staying here would be the worst decision for all of them. But at the same time...there was no way he could go back and expect to leave again. 'Once bitten, twice shy' was the idiom they used in this situation, but in Soren's case...Legs would be, at least, hundred times more shy. No, going back was no longer an option for him. "Mom, Dad...I know you're worried about me. Actually, I'm shaking to my bones as well just thinking about what those Xros Pirates can do...but I won't back down." Soren looked towards the den den mushi, no, his mother, straight in the eye. "You would have seen the Bounty Poster of Vera-nee...and you would have read what came with it. I know, Mom, that you probably hid the news about Vera-nee from me purposefully...but now that I've seen that, I don't think I can back down." Soren's eyes flashed with determination, and the hesitation in his voice all but disappeared. His resolve to fight came through, and he would convey this to his parents. "I'm going to keep fighting the Xros Pirates, Mom and Dad! Because I want to be strong enough to stand in front of Vera-nee, and ask her just what happened to our family! Even if you send all the Black Widow Pirates after me, I'll make my escape! I'll become strong enough, even if it's just for this small, selfish, question!" The room stood silent after that declaration. For such a simple, selfish reason, Soren would risk his entire livelihood? It was ridiculous...but that was the logic of someone who aimed to be the Pirate King. No matter how trivial, no matter how risky...that ability to push on despite the odds, is no doubt one of the most frightening characteristics of Pirates. Isshin stood there, besides Legs, and marveled at his son's growth. From a father's standpoint, he couldn't be any angrier. His own son wanting to risk his life and limb for a foster sister? But on the other hand, as his mentor, he couldn't be more proud. Isshin's student was stepping out into his own, and he didn't particularly want to stop him. "Soren." The Blade Thief spoke, his voice breaking the deadly silence. "You said you want to be strong enough to find and talk to Vera. Then you'll have to prove yourself. If you can escape the pursuit of Mirai, through whatever method you can come up with, then I will give you permission to try and survive on your own." Isshin knew Legs would be infuriated with what he just said, but at the end of the day, Legs was too soft as a mother. She knew, from the moment her children were born, that they would be put to this fate. This was just a bit more unexpected than usual. "And don't worry about your Mother here...I'll try to handle her one way or the other. So, try your best...Soren." A tearful smile came from Isshin on the other line, as the snail reflected his expressions. Soren, on the other hand, could only begin crying as Isshin spoke to him. Wiping his tears, he said, "Alright, Da-no, Isshin-sensei! I won't let you down!" As he said those words, he only waited once for his mother to speak, before he knew what had to be done. There was a long silence. “Yeah fuck that shit Soren,” Legs responded casually. “Your father is an idiot. Where you are right now? I’m on my way wherever you are to bring you home myself.” Wild Hunt Before the conversation could move on further, Mirai had turned off the snail's communications. She'd hear shit from Legs later, for now, she had to focus on what she had to do. "Just how do you think you shall escape from me, Soren?" The masked woman had said. Even without revealing her face, the killing intent exuding from her being was enough to suffocate the room. "Just who do you think you are standing in front of!?" Her voice beckoned, yet not enough to stir the baby, while leaving the others in the room shaken. Just what would Soren and his comrades do in this perilous situation? Tabart stepped between Frida and Mirai. “Look, if we need to, we’ll gladly fight you, but not here. My child is sleeping in his room, and this place is sort of expensive. I don’t know this guy, but dammit, if his mother is anything like mine then shit, I don’t blame him for leaving. He’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, and if that means chasing some woman or something, then I’m all for it. Hell, it’s basically what I did.” So, this wasn't exactly how Damon pictured things would have gone. Even as both presences from the snail were gone, there was still the masked woman in front of them, and all his instincts yelled at him to Keep away from her. "I don't remember everything about Soen... but, if he doesn't want to stop here, he won't!" Damon took the chance to step between Tabart and Mirai, "I'm all for Brobart, if we need to, we are fighting you!" He pointed at Mirai, figure still that of Oni, "Like a boss fight, right?" Something stirred inside of Frida like it never had before... this feeling was new. Her mind delved into the possibility of either Tabart or James getting injured or taken captive, and at this prospect, something deep inside of her boiled. Her skin became hot with anger and she clenched her fists. Almost as though he was nothing more than an obstacle, Frida gently ushered Tabart away from the direct line between her and Mirai. Frida then, with a blank expression, approached Mirai so closely that their face and mask, respectively, were nearly touching. "I don't know, nor do I particularly care about who you are. But what I do know, is that I will not let some masked bitch enter my home, target the father of my child and his allies, and threaten to uproot this beautiful little establishment we have going..." Frida's tone was poisonous, and the smirk that was plastered on her face was horrifying, especially because her eyes spelt out anything but happiness. "Who do you think you're standing in front of?" Katashi continued to peak around the corner, listening to the exchange. "Should I leave, or am I in this fight too?" he politely asked. "I don't mind helping, since no one has given me any orders now that we aren't on Bedina, wherever this is." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't know where he is at..." He continued before waiting to see if anyone would answer his first question. "Yeah Big man," Tabart interjected, "You're in this too. But I don't know how much we'll need it," he completed with a smile. His eyes fell upon Frida. "She looks like she has it covered." "..." Mirai wasn't particularly impressed with anyone's reactions, particularly the woman that tried to approach her. "Stay in your league, woman." Mirai spat, before near-instantaneously relocating at the entrance of the room. "I do not plan to chase Soren around and forcibly bring him home, at any rate." Mirai began walking out of the house. "However, if he has any degree of honor, he will come, fully prepared, and face me at the coast. Should any of you support him, please, be my guests." Mirai's mask seemed to then completely focus on Soren, "Prepare yourself, Soren. As you would have guessed already...there is no other way to leave this island, for you." Mirai had left the room, but Soren had been shaking as she did. "..." Soren was hesitating, badly, for the first time in his life. He had friends that would be his allies here, but his very existence was putting them in danger... No, now that he thought about it, this situation wasn't too foreign to him. ---- "H-huh? G-guys? Why are you going away...?" A small child spoke to his friends, on the verge of tears. "Your Mom's scary, you know! That one time you got hurt and she nearly killed our parents! We can't be friends with someone like that!" Another kid said, as the group had left the child alone. His tears fell heavily onto the ground. It happened again, he lost everyone because of his parents again. ---- That was just the natural way of things, he thought, until he had met Vera and Daemon. But now Daemon was his own man, with his own friends and way of living. That sort of loyalty doesn't come by very often, and Soren had already lost it. "I'm sorry, guys..." Soren buckled on his knees, and was on the floor. "I've put you all between a rock and a hard place...Please, don't be afraid to leave me if you need to. I won't hold it against you..." It was very rare for Soren to act so timid, but that was simply what he was used to. What else could he do besides apologize to those caught up in his recklessness? "Well ok, I suppose if you insist... if there isn't anything else we can do..." Frida wiped her hands on her blouse and spun on her heel, with the intent of walking back into her bedroom and most likely taking a nap. She was unable to do this, however, because she collided with Tabart's unwavering body, which would obviously disallow her from abandoning an ally in need. Tabart looked at Frida. "Frida? You know we can't just leave this guy to fend for himself. He helped us on Bedina. The least we can do is help him get off the island safely." Damon licked his blue lips, "I..." He started and glanced at Soren, "Already left you once." His pupils fully focused then. "If you want to fight her alone, I will be there, no matter." It was still weird. Still weird that they reunited like this after such a long time, and Damon didn't know how to treat Soren, completely at least. It dawned upon him that Soren seemingly came alone to Bedina, it meant he either left without bringing significant ones or... That he was just alone. Damon felt some tears, but, pushed them back, he had to be strong for them, he couldn't cry, "I won't leave-" He directed at the couple, yet stopped short. Could he stay true to his promise? After all, Katashi, Apu... Foxpack, Damon had left them alone. His mouth twisted and his head lowered. Frida could sense the abrupt stop in Damon's voice, and his facial movements gave away that he had forced himself to with-hold something. She separated her body from Tabart's before she turned towards Damon and crossed her arms; despite her judgemental stance, her face read some sort of sympathy. "Won't leave... what?" Frida questioned, looking upon Damon. Eyes shooting up at Frida's question, Damon stared at her, the twist in his mouth vanished, "Sorry, Mrs. Benjamin." He lamented, she was looking too much at him. "I was referring to my earlier statement." Damon glanced away, "So, don't worry." Yeah, she really shouldn't worry, maybe it was because he was different... Tabart stepped forward. "Um, Damon. You don't have to hide anything from us. We're not going to do anything," he begun, his tone laced in concern. "What won't you leave?" Saliva went down his throat, and Damon glanced at Tabart, god, not him too. "A-As in... I won't leave Soen or any of you behind!" He bawled, damn, this nervousness difficulted usage of Kenbunshoku, who would have guessed? Where was that damn dread-fish when you needed to change topics, "Now, what're we off to do...?" Damon frowned, were they going to stop staring? Hopefully his haki and body control were going to be back soon. "Well fuck me running! The amount of pressure in this god damn room could make diamonds!" Frida stuttered out awkwardly as she hugged her arms closely to her chest. She wasn't even the target of these interrogations and yet even she felt incredibly pressed in this situation. She walked over to the living room table and picked up her purse before swinging it over her shoulder. "Y-you guys ready to get your shop on!" she stammered, her throat tightened by the awkward air in the room. “U-Um….?” Tabart expressed confusedly, unable to find the words necessary to describe how Damon had just answered, and how Frida had just responded. “Why are we going shopping?” "You don't want to get any sort of weapon, o-or maybe a thing to treat your life-threatening injuries? I didn't think they'd beat you so bad that you'd lose your memory, ha ha ha!" Frida's laugh was obviously forced, and she quickly opened the front door and beckoned to the men. "..." Soren was flabbergasted. After all of that, they wanted to stay with him? There was nothing he needed to say here besides one thing. But before that, he had to look like he gathered himself together. He wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up eagerly. "Thank you, everyone!" A bright smile beamed from his face, but soon after Frida mentioned shopping, Soren called out to her. "U-uh, Frida-san. Do you think I could borrow your make-up for a bit? I'd rather not go outside and be identified immediately...Plus, don't you need to make sure James is sleeping?" Rather than show her embarrassment for forgetting her own child, Frida hurried off into her room. She retrieved the minimal makeup that she had from a dresser drawer and kissed a sleeping James on the forehead. "H-yeah! Here this is..." she spoke, handing the makeup to Soren. "And um... Katashi! Would you mind keeping an eye on James while we're gone?" Frida beamed happily, and it was clear that this was less of a question, and more of a demand. Tabart chuckled at Soren's request. He cuffed his hands around his mouth, and cleared his throat. "Ehm...Gaaayyyy!!!" his voice bellowed, his tone gradating from this deep pitch to a higher one as he muttered the word gay comedically. Biting his lips, Damon almost jumped into Soren in order to hug him, the latter expressed such humility even at a time like this. The favor directed at Frida snapped him out of it, Damon buffed his own chest in proudness, truly Soren gave no care- "Huh," Damon glanced at Tabart, who swiftly joked, "That reminds me of the guy you got with!" He beamed, flashes of their chit-chat before Bedina's battle crossing his mind, "Though, his name was Ashley, right? Weird..." Damon put his hands on his hips. Tabart jumped defensively. "Damon!! That is false and untrue!" He looked towards Frida, and then back at Damon. "The World Government made all that up! I promise!! They have no proof of that, Damon! You know how they be lying!" "Well...I am bisexual, so that's not really wrong." Soren stated with a deadpan expression, before looking towards Frida's makeup bag. "Thank you, Frida-san! Just give me a couple of minutes." Soren rushed into the room he was stuck in with the other men, sans Tabart, and began to work his magic. After cleaning all the brushes thoroughly, he applied the makeup in a way that subtly altered his skin tone, his facial structure and overall features' prominence without completely changing his identity, but in a way that authorities would not recognize him from a single, badly taken photograph. He appeared in front of his comrades once again, with a more chiseled jawline, thinner lips, and smaller-looking eyes, as well as slightly paler skin that softly transitioned into the color of his skin across his body. He also grabbed one of the nearby blankets and made a make-shift cloak with it, as he had no shirts to wear of his own. "Alright, I'm ready to go! We've got a bit of shopping to do before we can think about getting out of here. Food, water, clothing, weapons...Yikes! I hope we can get everything done in time..." Katashi had simply nodded to the statement that he was to stay to watch the boy. He then just stood there and watched the festivities and teasing that went on. He knew basically nothing about these people, beyond a bit about Tabart. Yet they all seemed to share a bond that he did not. He didn't know if any of his crew was here, or where they were if they weren't. He didn't know anything that had happened after he had been brought low, and now was as good as any of a time to ask about it even if he didn't want to ruin the mood. The big man stood up a bit straighter, his head almost touching the ceiling as he asked, "So what happened after the ambush? I don't see anyone else here." "Yeah, um, let's go get the stuff to go out, Frida! I think you said it's in the basement, right?" Tabart looked down at the floor, whistling awkwardly before grabbing Frida's hand and drawing her with him towards the basement. "Heh yeahhh..." Frida sighed exasperatedly and walked to the basement door. She lifted open the heavy door, which led to something less like a basement and more like a dungeon cellar. She picked up an oil lamp that sat on the first step of the stairs leading down and lit it with a match, which illuminated the darkness that was created after the door slammed shut. Frida grabbed Tabart's hand and led him to the bottom of the stairs, revealing what appeared to be nothing more than a dingy stone storage room. However, there appeared to be something more, as Frida bent down and began agressively swiping her hands on the tiles of the floor as is searching for something, "Gah, which one of these bastards i-" Frida was interrupted by the sound of stone scraping stone as she pushed down a tile of stone with her palm. At the end of the room, a wall had swung open like a revolving door, and revealed what could be none other than a pile of gold, treasure chests, and jewels. Frida led Tabart over to the secret room without a word, and simply allowed the flickering flame to illuminate and reflect light off of the mounds of golden coins that sat in this secluded vault. Tabart jumped backwards. "Woah, what the hell! Frida?!" he looked at her, his face lit with a smile. "W-Where did ya get all of this from?! You're rich! You're stinking rich!" Frida puffed her chest out proudly and planted her hands on her hips. "I stole it! Well... kinda" She added, squinting her eyes as though she herself didn't know the real story. "When shit hit the fan and Beardy bit it, I kinda maybe took his shit and ran for it..." Frida spun on her heel and faced Tabart, beaming happily like a kid in a candy store. "Hit the fan?" Tabart inquired curiously, stepping closer. "Y-You're telling me that Redbeard, you know, the Elbaf dude is dead? B-But how!? W...When did he die!?" Frida tapped her chin. "How long ago was it? My concept of time is practically non-existent..." She shrugged and continued on. "Well, he was a stubborn son of a bitch, and that turned out to be a huge part of his downfall. He got tracked down by this super powerful warrior lady, and she ended up killing him during a duel for his allyship. What was her name? J... Jacket? Jacket D. Cornholio? Yeah... yeah I'm pretty sure that's right..." Tabart looked down at the floor upon hearing the news, a tinge of concern and disappointment glued upon his tanned visage. "I-I see...he lost his life for something so trivial as that." There was a fraught silence that consumed the room. "H-He should've never even been out there. If I had paid more attention. Only if I had paid more attention." Frida laid her hand on Tabart's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Tabby, there's no use on dwelling on the past. You have a new life, everything that happened before, it doesn't matter now." Frida kissed him on the cheek before she bent down and scooped up a decent amount of gold coins into a bag. "Are you good to go, Tab?" She asked as she tied the small bag to her belt. Tabart lifted his head from the floor and smiled. “Yeah, I’m ready. But, do the people here take those gold coins like that? I feel like we gotta run that to a bank or something and get some Belly out of it.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “I think one gold coin is worth something like 140,000 Belly?” he thought confusedly, “I’m trying to remember the conversion rate…Well, whatever it is, we should probably use some of that to buy a shop around here or something so we can make money while we’re here.” Grieving Tale Damon glanced towards Katashi as soon as he asked his question, "Um..." His teeth grinded against one another, "Me and Tabart managed to overwhelm Najeem, and from there we felt Foxpack's aura. We tried helping him... But, that Reach dude," Blood dripped from his mouth, due to his sharp test. "He managed to break my spine and..." Damon gestured for his current appearance, "I just saw nothing after that..." "So what happened to the Vice-Commander, what happened to the rest of the crew?" Katashi will utter with a look of horror and distress. "Where is everyone... Where is this... Am I... Am I the only one who made it?" Katashi sat down hard at this thought. He had been with the Titan pirates for nearly fifteen years now, ever since they had recruited him from his tribe on one of the various islands in the new world. He had been apart of the 5th division for almost as long. Now they were just gone... "What happened while I was unconscious... The whole story please." "..." Soren himself did not know Katashi and the Titan Pirates. But he knew about the emotion of loss. He did not know enough about the situation to be able to pacify Katashi, but he stayed in the room, distant from the two, allowing Damon to tell the story of what happened to Katashi's comrades in peace. The saliva that had been building up in Damon's mouth got swallowed, as he shared glances with both Katashi and Soren, "Um... sorry, well, I only know that Apu and Barney Kettle are in this island..." His hands clenched into fists, how to say it to this guy... he knew them all better than he ever did. "F-Foxpack was left behind-" Damon sighed and his eyes trembled, "willingly." Whatever happened to Foxpack... Damon had only one word in his mind, his breath hitched, "Vengeance." As he accepted it into his psyche, his eyes stopped trembling and merely pierced at nowhere, eyelids half-way closed. It was at this moment that Frida came up from the basement with Tabart by her side, slamming the heavy cellar door shut. It wasn't until after she closed the door that she realized that this sound must've disrupted some moment of silence among the visitors, because they all seemed to jump lightly and look over in her direction. She froze stiffly in her tracks and eyed all of them nervously before she began moving awkwardly towards the door. She cleared her throat and regained her composure. There was no use for being awkward or shy during the men's visit... that would surely show weakness. Frida reminded herself that she had to hold herself at the highest standard at all times, lest the men forget who they are and who showed enough mercy to allow them to stay at their home. "Are we done?" She asked. Tabart exhaled enthusiastically. "Um, look! How about after we go shopping, we grab everyone a drink or two or something? It'll cheer everybody up, and put everyone in the right spirits! There ain't nothing better than a drink to lift a down spirit." "I will stay here if it's all right..." Katashi will say from his sitting position. "It's a lot to think about." Tabart nodded silently. "Yeah, take all the time you need. We'll bring you something back." A sigh escaped Damon's lips, though his eyes remained open. He finally decided to ask, "I-Is it okay if I go into my human form first?" Even so, he didn't glance around as he spoke it, not meeting anyone in the eye. His mind was more pulled together now, and if his Haki was back, it meant Damon could likely change his appearance too. He didn't expect them to understand, but, he was mostly in that form not by his own choice and because Soren's presence diminished its impact. Then again, it was the latter who explained it to the others. "Oh do you think you could hold it a little longer? I would love to have a scaly blue bitch ride my coattails through a highly populated area. That would be the perfect way to divert attention." Frida sighed exasperatedly and rolled her eyes. Clearly, she was back to her normal, bitchy, self. Tabart hopped in. "Yes, Damon, you can go back into your human form first. We'd greatly appreciate it." Only feeling like snarling at Frida's comment, Damon reminded himself they shouldn't waste any time. Holding his right forearm out, Damon took a glance at it and grunted, putting into use of the many techniques Bambina had taught him, but, the only one which served for this. Life Return, which permitted him to control some functions of his body. Along with his devil fruit, Damon was then capable of altering the pigmentation of his skin bit by bit, a white tone crawling from the tip of his fingers and downards. It went further and further, until it completely enveloped his entire being, even his eyes, the sclera going to white and the irises acquiring their black. His scars were easier to see now, particularly the one at the side of his torso and some on both his biceps. Damon took a bite at nothing, making sure his teeth were not too sharp. The only difference were his blue curved horns, which stood there. Tabart winced at the transformation. "Shit, that look like it hurt, Damon. B-But, Um...you." He looked down awkwardly. "You forgot something." Blink, Damon stared at Tabart for a second, tried glancing up, then at Tabart, then up- "Yo- Ohhhhhhhhhh," He pointed absentmindedly at the horns. He looked down, "These take more time..." Damon scratched the back of his neck, "Sorry..." "Oh, then no worries! I doubt anyone will actually notice, ya know. There are plenty of weirder people to look at, like me!" Tabart joked, looking towards Frida. "Well, go on, take the lead," he gestured. "You know this place better than all of us." Baby Boom The group arrived at the bustling marketplace of Coachella as people from all walks of life moved around like the ocean current. The men were all huddled close together behind Frida, much like a group of ducklings would towards their mother. Frida directed the group confidently towards a dark and frankly suspicious alleyway before stopping at the "entrance." Looking down the alleyway, there was nothing but a huddle of rats and an overflowing garbage bin that sat before a brick wall. "We're here boys. I'd advise holding your breath... and not just because of the garbage." Frida's sentence ended with her abrupt sprint and dive directly into the garbage bin, the trash quickly enveloping her body. Tabart’s visage contorted into disgust. “Did she just…” there was no need for him to finish his statement. He shook his head side to side slowly, yet defiantly. “Yeah, fuck that. I’m not doing that. I don’t know what in the hell is wrong with Frida, but I’m not going to willingly jump into trash.” "Don't worry guys!" Soren said, as he pushed his arm outwards in a "chopping" motion horizontally. Black coal was released from his body, and covered the entirety of his body. Subsequently, he looked back at his friends, who were still shuddering from the thought of entering that heap, "Did you guys want Black Scales too?" Tabart nodded. "If you don't get my white robes dirty, I don't care what you cover me in." Through Frida's ordeal of entering the trash, Damon merely stared at nowhere, "You seem eager for this..." Damon noted at Soren with a sweatdrop, wearing one of Tabart's turbans, which he found in Frida's house, on his head to conceal his horns. Seeing the others' reluctance on entering, Damon rose his lower lip and a gave a bored breath, approaching the bin with steadiness. With a simple push from his right hand, Damon unveiled the bottom of the floor from it, which showcased a small hole, where Frida supposedly got into. "See? No getting dirty," Damon rolled his eyes and gestured for the entrance. Realization struck him a second after, "Wait, guys, did we just... follow a rabbit into a hole... are we going to fall upwards?!" Damon cupped his head, eyes wide. "We'll be fine, Daemon!" Soren said, as he began to cover Tabart's body in Black Scales. "Guess we should get going." Soren jumped on in first, finding that the coal that covered his body managed to protect him from anything that the bin threw at him. Shortly after Soren, Damon and Tabart followed suit in their appropriate trash-evading attire. It became apparent that the garbage bin was bottomless, and led directly into a small dirt tunnel that allowed the men to easily slide down into a large underground chamber. Miraculously, this chamber was furnished exactly like an ordinary merchant's shop, fit with merchandise lining the walls and surprisingly clean furniture. "And so then I said, 'Not so fast, Plant Man. I have a reputation to upkeep, and I can't just share my name with a person who tried to kill me a few hours ago!" Frida spoke to an abnormally short woman with a distinct bob haircut who stood behind the counter. Both of the women erupted in giggles, before the entrance of the men turned Frida's attention. Tabart walked to the counter, subtly checking his clothes for any signs of coal, trash, or smudges as he approached. “Hi, I’m the Plant Man,” Tabart mimicked playfully. “Though, judging from your conversation, I’m pretty sure you’re already plenty familiar with me. Nice to meet you.” "Fellas, this is G.C. She runs this little operation that we have going on here. I know you're probably wondering why her establishment is inside an undesirable place, but I'd like to direct you to that for your answer..." As she spoke, Frida pointed directly towards a line of shelves packed full of illegal contraband and powerful tools and weaponry, and being two prominent items for sale. "Huh." Soren popped up behind Tabart, likely starting any onlooker. "These are some pretty rare goods. I'm surprised you've kept this place hidden." Soren took a look around, his ninja eyes scanning and discerning relevant information from his surroundings. "Well, is there a swordsmith around? I'd like to get a new sword, preferably a named one, to fight with again. I lost it after getting caught by that scoundrel Grape..." Soren grumbled, as he peeked at his empty hand again. "Hmph! Blech!", were the only two noises that the enigmatic G.C made before she opened her mouth and a long, frog-like tongue shot out and grabbed onto a torch sconce that helped light the otherwise dim room. G.C leaned back slightly, and her tongue pulled gently on the sconce, revealing that it was not only a light source, but a lever. A long panel opened up in the "ceiling" above the party and a wall full of an assortment of blades dropped down, revealing themselves to the group. Similarly, Damon popped at one of Tabart's sides, turban still atop his head, seeking to imitate Soren in order to familiarize himself with his childhood friend. "Hmmmm, yeah..." His eyes narrowed at the many items, "Yeah, these things... look cool?" Damon wasn't any good with this kind of stuff. At a familiar name, Damon's head snapped towards Soren, "Grape?" No way, they couldn't be the same person, Damon now stood normally on the ground. Then, due to the slightly loud noise of the ceiling opening, Damon glanced upwards, "Oooh, this is like those spy plays!" His mouth going into an o''. Tabart nodded in agreement. "Yeah, my blade was broken too, so I think a new one is in order." He turned his head to face Frida. "How much do I have to spend? A lot right?" Frida only glanced over to G.C, who seemed to be looking over in the direction of the group, even though it was impossible to tell with her obscuring bangs. G.C made a low grumbling noise and let out another "blech," this time apparently in response. "This time it's on the house, but don't expect her to be so lenient next time." Frida spoke, as if translating for G.C. ''"Even if she doesn't look like she rends much..." Damon thought, eyes staring at the petitde woman. Hands placed on the sides of his thighs, Damon had approached G.C and bowed at her, "Thank you." He uttered with closed eyes and walked back to Soren's side, as the man observed the weapons. Tabart looked towards G.C, then back at Frida, then back at G.C, then back at Frida again; his face enveloped in confusion. "Um, how the....how did you know...what?" Those were the only words that escaped his tongue as he deeply interpreted the circumstances, enough to where he simply didn't care anymore. "Well, whatever. Thanks, Madam!" Category:Ash9876 Category:Berserkchart486 Category:Dal101 Category:DamonDraco Category:DazzlingEmerald Category:Yesdemia Category:Role-Plays Category:Roleplay